At 15 months, Carter was not talking and had battled several ear infections. His pediatrician suggested his parents Amanda and Ryan reach out to Rainbows for an evaluation and they were connected to Miss Peggy, a speech-language pathologist with Bright Beginnings Infant/Toddler Services in Butler County.
“Miss Peggy is wonderful,” said Amanda. “She worked with Carter on making sounds and we saw progress right away. He’s now working on saying words like “no,” “go-go-go” and he has the cutest “meow.”
Services transitioned to tele-therapy in March due to social distancing. Instead of going into the family home, Miss Peggy talks to Amanda and Carter through a pre-arranged Skype session usually through Amanda’s cell phone. Peggy continues speech therapy through her iPad, offers suggestions on sounds and words to practice and talks with Amanda about resources she may want to access on the internet to help Carter.
“Our world has really changed. Both Ryan and I are home more and Carter is not going to child care. We have had to adjust to being together all the time and helping Carter with his speech has been a big priority.” Amanda is a nurse and works two days a week and is on call as needed.
“With COVID-19, I was nervous that services might not continue,” said Amanda. “It’s discouraging when Carter doesn’t communicate. Keeping his therapy has lessened the frustration level for all of us. I’m so glad we have the option to continue therapy sessions through tele-therapy. We all look forward to Miss Peggy’s call and taking part in the activities she suggests for Carter’s speech.”
Amanda adds, “It’s nice to know that when I get called into work, Carter and Ryan are spending more time together and Peggy has given us ideas to keep him learning during this unusual time.”
